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Goan women may fight Anti-Dowry Act

Women in general may chant 'no dowry', but Goan women want dowry.

Thus, while the Anti-Dowry Act is hailed as a step towards gender equality, Goan women feel otherwise - they are not ready to accept it at face value, anyway.

The Goa State Commission for Women proposes to set up an expert committee shortly to look into the issue. Its recommendations would be submitted to the state, the Union ministry of human resource development and the National Commission for Women.

''If the committee so feels, we will suggest that Goa be kept out of the purview of the Act,'' Commission Chairperson Dr Pramod D Salgaocar said.

The Portuguese Civil Code still holds sway in Goa. According to it, women used to be given 'dota ' (the Goan equivalent of 'streedhan ' in reverse) at the time of marriage, including jewellery. Anything except immovable property was acceptable.

''But now in the reign of the Anti-Dowry Act, women do not get this. At the same time they are disinherited from their father's property with the brothers taking their consent in writing before a wedding,'' Dr Salgaocar explained.

''We are not in favour of dowry, but in the context of the ground realities, there is a need for rethinking and addressing the lacunae in the Act,'' she added.

The commission has had several meetings with various women's groups on the issue.

The expert committee will also look into the temple rights of women. ''Right now, only men are allowed to vote in elections for temple committees according to Portuguese laws as it is reasoned that after marriage they will become part of a different family. But we want equal rights for women,'' she said.

Rehabilitation of sex workers of Baina beach also remains a top priority for Dr Salgaocar, who is the president of the Goa Mahila Pradesh Congress Committee.

The Commission has conducted a socio-economic study of sex workers. The report is with the NCW now, and urges it to work out a rehabilitation package. ''We also want the state government to come out with a white paper,'' she said.

''In Baina, within an area of a little less than a kilometre, over 2000 sex workers operate in over 250 cubicles. The money generated there is around Rs 900,000," she added.

Dr Salgaocar said the number of Goan girls involved in flesh trade could be counted on one's fingers. ''Most of the girls are from Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Maharashtra. It is an organised trade and the girls operate on contract basis. It is time to come hard on the traffickers and stop this,'' she said.

Dr Salgaocar said a high rate of education among women has paid dividends in terms of population control in Goa where ''aanganwadi workers have been agitating for alternative employment in the face of closure of a lot of primary schools due to dearth of children''.

The Commission, she said, proposed to conduct a survey on the effect of education. ''We should have free education for women till graduation,'' she said.

''The women's cell has been reactivated and it will act as a nodal agency with a 24-hour hotline,'' she added.

UNI

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